Loving The Dark Half
by ilikeevildoods
Summary: Inuyasha betrays Kagome for Kikyo and Kagome still tries to get Inuyasha back.. But what if someone else comes into Kagome's life? What if Inuyasha wants her back? Probably a lemon later
1. why

"Run, Kagome!" Inuyasha laughed, amusement glinting in his eyes as he watched Kagome. "Inuyasha... Why?" Tears formed at the corners of Kagome's eyes as her lower lip trembled. "I thought you loved me!"

"You are just too gullible, Kagome. It's sad how you actually thought that I loved you. I love Kikyo, and you're nothing but a copy. A worthless copy, nothing more." Inuyasha wrapped an arm around Kikyo while holding tetsusaiga in the other. Kagome felt her heart shatter as Inuyasha very gladly said those words. Kikyo smirked. "I told you to go back to your own time. Now you've paid."

'Why did I think that he loved me in the first place? I always knew he didn't.. But I never wanted to admit it.'

Kagome sobbed and reached for her arrows but was stopped as Inuyasha wrenched her arm away from them.

"We can't let her get away, Inuyasha. Kill her." Kikyo ordered, pointing a finger directed to Kagome's head. Her eyes widened as she looked up.

'.. I won't die like this.'

She stumbled to her feet and quickly grabbed the arrows. Inuyasha seemed to dazed to immediately react. She mustered up all of her courage and ran past him, gasping for breath as she headed towards the well. 'I don't know if Inuyasha will chase me to my time, but it's safer than being here,' she thought. Newly formed tears made trails on the mud on her face as she looked behind her. She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her right shoulder and saw that there was blood flowing freely from a wound, crimson staining her already dirty school shirt. She glanced behind her and saw that Kikyo was aiming another arrow at her, and Inuyasha was easily catching up.

'I have to fight, but how? I still love Inuyasha'

She wheeled around, and before Inuyasha could swipe at her she aimed an arrow, at Kikyo. Her muscles tensed as she felt the rest of her purified power transfer to it. 'Please hit,' she pleaded, knowing that her life depended on this one arrow.

She barely even felt herself release the arrow until she heard a bloodcurdling scream. She trembled as she watched concern flash in Inuyasha's eyes before he immediately turned and sprinted to Kikyo. He cradled her limp body. "Kikyo? Kikyo! Wake up!" He finally stopped screaming her name as Kagome just watched.

'How did I do that?'

Inuyasha slowly lifted his head to stare at her. She shuddered as she saw that his eyes were burning with rage, and.. Hate. It saddened her so much to see that it was once his reaction to someone else, and in Kikyo's place would be hers.. But now she was the someone that Inuyasha hated. She wasn't the one he loved, the one he'd die to protect.. Kikyo was.

_"You."_

That was one simple word yet it held so much hatred. Inuyasha's eyes glimmered dangerously. "Kagome. I will KILL you." He suddenly charged at her, faster than she could have imagined. The last thing she remembered was blood and a flash of white.


	2. two faced

Kagome awoke slowly. Her eyes were half open when she tried to remember what happened before she fainted. 'Oh my god, where am I? Am I.. Dead?' She pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. "I'm not dreaming," she murmured, then sighed and closed her eyes again. "I don't want to wake up.." She felt a lone tear drip down the side of her right cheek and she pulled the covers of the bed further above her head. 'I don't even care where I am, I only want to sleep.. And never wake up again..'

As if replying to that thought, she heard a low voice speak out of a corner of whatever room she was in.

"Miko, don't you want to see where you are?"

Kagome peeked above the covers and saw a white figure. It was blurry at first, but soon she realized that it was Inuyasha's half brother, Sesshomaru. Fear struck her face as she saw him sitting in a chair staring blankly at her. However, she soon calmed.

'Why should I be afraid? He was the one who saved me.'

"Sesshomaru.. Lord Sesshomaru," she corrected herself, "Why did you save me?"

Sesshomaru smirked. "I see you're not the least appreciative of the fact that I just saved your life."

"But to answer your question, Miko, I brought you here to dicuss a proposition. If you reject, I will gladly return you to Inuyasha and his new miko."

Kagome flinched. 'I guess I have no choice but to say yes then, to whatever he wants.'

"What's your proposition?"

Sesshomaru crossed a leg over the other. "Miko, I'm sure you're well aware of the fact that Inuyasha has now teamed up with Kikyo." Kagome nodded. 'Is he after the tetsusaiga?'

"Sesshomaru-sama, I don't think I can help you if you want Inuyasha's-" "I don't want tetsusaiga. I've realized that I can defeat my hanyou brother just as easily without it. However..." Sesshomaru leaned towards Kagome. "You have something I want.."

Kagome cocked her head. 'What is it that he wants from me? If he wanted me to help him with my purification powers, he would've just gone and talked to Kikyo. And Kikyo and Inuyasha already took the jewel shards..' Kagome gritted her teeth at that thought.

_**"Kagome.." Inuyasha leaned towards Kagome as her heart fluttered. "Inuyasha, what-" Kagome was cut mid-sentence as Inuyasha gently held her and kissed her lips. "I love you, Kagome,"he whispered, nuzzling her neck. He kissed trails down her neck then slid a hand up her shirt. 'I can't believe this is happening,' thought Kagome. She began to kiss deeper but then was jerked backwards. Surprised, she looked at Inuyasha and saw that he was smirking while he held her jewel shard necklace. "Wench, I never loved you, I can't believe that you are so gullible. It's sad." She watched in shock as Kikyo walked through the door and Inuyasha grasped her waist and kissed her. "See, Kagome, the one I truly love is Kikyo. Too bad for you," Kikyo spitefully smiled at Kagome over one of Inuyasha's shoulders. Kagome couldn't do anything, only stand there and watch them both in shock.**_

Sesshomaru watched as Kagome seemed to be angry, as her fists clenched and her jaw locked. She suddenly relaxed. 'It's no use thinking about this now,' she thought, 'It's in the past..' but suddenly she felt a tear emerge from her eye, then another. Soon, she was crying uncontrollably as she clasped her hands over her face, turning away from Sesshomaru. He leaned back into the chair and watched her. 'I don't know how I'm going to deal with this,' she thought while she let out a heartwrenching sob. 'When I finally open my heart up to someone he betrays me in cold blood..' Kagome tried to wipe away the tears but only succeeded in smearing them across her face as more tears flowed freely. 'I can't let Sesshomaru see me weak like this,' she thought as she tried again to wipe away the new tears, 'but then again, he's always thought of me as weak. Everyone thinks I'm weak!'

Sesshomaru watched her, his golden eyes still blank. Kagome's eyes finally stopped tearing and she forced herself to look at him. As her eyes met his, she couldn't see anything in his eyes-they were completely emotionless. No sadness, no anger, nothing.

"What is it you want from me?" she finally asked, sitting up in the bed.

"Even I won't refuse to admit the fact that the hanyou and the dead miko make a deadly pair. As you may also know, Naraku is still attempting to gain power-and he undoubtedly is succeeding, even if it slowly. However.. if Naraku teams up with Inuyasha and the dead miko.."

"He wouldn't do that! He hates Naraku!"

Sesshomaru smirked cruelly. "What if that were a lie, Miko? What if it was all an act to get the jewel shards?"

Kagome shook her head and shut her eyes. "No! He could've easily gotten the shards from me a long time ago!" At this, Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow.

"Yet he could also have more shards in his posession if he waited a little longer. The reason why I need your.. Assistance.. Is because Inuyasha will probably be Naraku's acquaintance-even if he must kill Naraku in the end, he will do what it takes to get those jewel shards." Kagome shook her head again in denial. "I won't believe it! He didn't use me the _whole_ time, he just.." But what _did_ he do?' Kagome thought. _What if he really did use you? What if everytime you both laughed, smiled, or he saved you it was all an act? He never loved you, Kagome. Your love was wasted._ said a voice in her head.

"Believe what you want," Sesshomaru said, standing up, "but I assure you, Inuyasha does not love you-or at least, not anymore. But consider this.. Though you _did _kill his wench, wouldn't you like to repay him for all of the pain he's caused? All of your misery? Have your decision ready by tomorrow morning." With that, he closed the door of her room and left Kagome staring at the door, as if she could see through it. 'Would I really like to pay Inuyasha back? I still love him..'

"Even though he never loved me in the first place." She whispered, then cried herself to sleep.

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lol ok i know the ending was really corny but it is the best one that i can think of right now that will suit what's coming later on in the story.

i hate doing this to inuyasha, but ive always hated kikyo. arghhh she should just go to hell and stay thereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

(no offense, kikyo fans.. i just had to get that out..)

hmm well please dont flame me because this is like the first angsty fic (one of the first fanfics actually) that ive written

im planning to make some twists and definitely a lemon!


	3. her choice

Kagome never remembered falling asleep in the first place, but felt a cool wetness on her cheeks and then remembered that she had been crying. She slowly opened her eyes, the blurriness of her vision fading as she gradually took in her surroundings. She hadn't actually really noticed-or cared-what the room she was in looked like during the previous night, but now she gazed at the crimson, velvety-looking curtains that draped over some windows. Some sunlight peeked through them so she assumed she either woke at a normal time or slept in. "Though I doubt I slept in after what happened yesterday..." she murmured. She winced as her joints popped when she slid out of the bed, attempting to comb through her messed up hair with her fingers. She stood and saw that the entire room theme was actually a crimson with elegant golden decoratives here and there. She stumbled across the room to find that a beautiful kimono had been lain out for her. "Why is he treating me so nice?" She wondered aloud as she picked it up and examined it. She gasped when she felt that it was made of silk. "I'd better not ruin this.." she said quietly and slipped it on carefully. A few minutes later she heard a knock at the door, then Sesshomaru walked in.

"Ohayoo gozaimasu," Kagome greeted, bowing respectfully.

"There's no need for the bowing. And you've never seemed to call me _Lord_ Sesshomaru before, though it's a good start."

Kagome felt herself turn red.

Sesshomaru broke the awkward silence with, "I see you've found the new kimono."

Kagome glanced down at it and tried to smile. "Thanks a lot for letting me borrow it.. But.. Why?"

Sesshomaru raised an eyebrow and glanced over at her school uniform that she usually wore. She suddenly noticed that it was torn and was mostly dyed crimson from her blood.

"..."

"Have you made your decision yet?" Sesshomaru asked abruptly. He stared at her intently while she bit her lower lip.

"Ah.. No.. I'm sorry.."

"Tonight at dinner you will tell me, and if you haven't made it by then I will for you." He started to walk out of the room but stopped. "Oh, and one more thing.."

He turned to face her.

"If you do accept my proposition, there is one more aspect involved.. You will be the caretaker of my ward, Rin." He finally walked out of the door.

'Rin? Isn't she that girl that I sometimes saw?' Kagome wondered, then reviewed her decision again in her mind. 'I'd better accept.. That, or die unhonorably at Inuyasha's hands.' She gritted her teeth. 'No. I will not be hurt by Inuyasha again.'

She walked out of the room in hopes of finding a more lighter room than that dark, dreary one. She passed a corner but paused when she felt something small brush by her waist. As she looked down, she saw Rin and smiled as Rin slowly looked up with wide eyes.

"You're Kagome-san! Sesshomaru-sama has told me all about you, he told me that you may be staying with Rin!" She said excitedly, bouncing up and down. 'Great, now I'll feel even worse if I don't accept his offer.. I'll disappoint Rin..'

Rin looked down. "Rin remembers Okaasan.. But not very much.. Rin misses her.." She said sadly, and Kagome felt a pang of sympathy towards Rin's circumstances. She knew that Rin had lost both of her parents to wolves and that she had been killed by them herself. 'But why did Sesshomaru revive her?' Kagome wondered. She felt something tug at her sleeve and realized that it was Rin.

"Kagome-san.. Can Rin.. Hold your hand?" She asked innocently, sucking in her lower lip.

"Of course, Rin! And yes, I will gladly be staying with you!"

Rin squealed with excitement and happiness as she grabbed Kagome's hand and ran off into the corridors, dragging Kagome behind her.

"Sesshomaru-sama! Sesshomaru-sama! Kagome has said that she will stay with Rin!" She yelled happily as she bumped into Sesshomaru. Sesshomaru merely patted the top of her head and nodded to Kagome, acknowledging her.

"It appears you've made your decision early." He said, his monotone voice void of any emotion. "Both Rin and I are pleased to know that."

Kagome managed a weak smile as Rin bounced up and down happily.

"Sakura." Sesshomaru said, and seconds later a woman dressed in a plain black kimono appeared. She seemed to look human, but Kagome doubted she actually was. The woman bowed to Sesshomaru then turned and bowed her head to politely acknowledge Kagome.

"Show Kagome her room," Sesshomaru said. "And also show her the rest of her quarters." He added, then Kagome started to follow the woman named Sakura into one of the many hallways. She soon noticed that Rin wasn't following her and wondered why. As if answering Kagome's question, Sesshomaru said, "Rin will meet you in the dining room tonight during dinner, then tomorrow you will accompany her to wherever she chooses." Kagome slightly nodded her head telling him he understood then disappeared into the dark hallways along with Sakura.

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gah i know not much angst here but i couldnt really make kagome sound too angsty or too cheerful-remember, shes just been through this whole ordeal

please tell me what you think


	4. a hug

Omg! Thank you all for all of the nice comments!

And yes I am updating quite quickly because this is perhaps my best fanfic yet and I have.. A lot of free time on my hands now that I'm not in geometry anymore )

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The dark corridors seemed endless. Kagome gave a mental sigh in relief as Sakura finally stopped in front of a door. She stepped aside and notioned for Kagome to go inside, and she did.

"This will be your room during your stay," Sakura said, "If you need any assistance, just call my name. My room is only a little further down the hall, so I will hear you." She smiled humbly, bowed, then exited the room. "I will come to your room around nightfall and guide you to dinner." Kagome heard Sakura say. Then she sat in silence as she heard the sound of footsteps slowly fading away.

'What now?' she thought. 'Will I really stay here to help Rin and Sesshomaru? Will he let me visit my family?' Kagome felt tears returning to her eyes again. 'But going home won't be the same without Inuyasha.' She remembered that almost everytime she went home Inuyasha would soon come down the well into her time to pick her up early. She wondered if she would act this weak when her mother would ask why Inuyasha wasn't with her or why she wasn't acting like herself.

"Kagome, are you okay?" Kagome quickly looked up as she heard a high voice. She saw Rin staring at her with concerned eyes and tried to smile.

"Yes, Rin-chan, I'm fine.. I'm just.. Remembering something.." She managed to force the welling tears back down so that Rin wouldn't see that she was crying. Or has she already?

"But Kagome was crying.." Rin said and walked closer to her. Kagome sighed.

"Yes.. I was remembering something sad that happened to me recently.."

Rin knew not to pry into Kagome's business, so she said nothing. Sesshomaru had already taught her not to be nosy.

"Rin remembers when.. She felt very sad. When her parents were killed.. Rin felt so alone.." Kagome looked at Rin sympathetically. She felt shock as a tear fell from one of Rin's eyes and made a dark spot on Rin's orange kimono. 'I didn't know Rin still felt so strongly about her parents..' Kagome thought, then did what the first thing came to her mind was. She hugged her.

Rin's eyes widened in surprise but she consciously hugged Kagome back. Kagome smiled at Rin's warmth and the way she felt comforted by their hug. The first time she really smiled in a while.

When they pulled away, Kagome noticed that Rin had stopped crying and that all that remained were half dried tears on her cheeks. Rin looked into Kagome's eyes.

"That was the first time that Rin remembers someone hugged her.." Rin smiled at Kagome. "Thank you, you've made me feel a lot better.."

"You've made me feel a lot better too, Rin," Kagome replied. 'What a sweet girl.. Who would've thought that Sesshomaru's ward would be so.. Kind?' Kagome thought.

"Rin feels that Kagome is like a mother to her.. Rin really likes you!" Rin exclaimed, hugging Kagome again. 'But I've barely even spoken to her.. But I suppose actions say more than words do,' Kagome thought.

"Hey Rin," Kagome said, then Rin looked at Kagome, "Let's go pick flowers," she smiled, then Rin did too. 'Something I haven't done in a long time..' Kagome thought, then felt Rin's small hand tugging her out of the room.

Nightfall came quite sooner than Kagome would have thought. But she was happy to have gotten to know Rin better. Yet one thing still pondered her mind..

'Why did Sesshomaru revive Rin? Even if it was for an experimental purpose, why did he take her in?' She knew not to ask him that question because she knew he would just tell her to mind her business. After all, it _wasn't_ her business, anyway.

She was waiting in her room when she heard a soft knock on her door. She saw Sakura come in and figured that this was her cue to get up off of the bed and follow her down the dark hallways once more. So she did.


	5. discussion

Ah thankyou everyone again for leaving the positive comments ) I'll try to make longer chapters and stuff, but usually what I do is just post two-three shorter chapters at the same time.

anyway, on with the fanfic. it's not like people actually read what the author writes here anyway lmao

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Kagome followed Sakura down the hall and gazed at the walls since there wasn't really anything else to do. Even though it was so dark that she could barely make out the paintings, one caught her eye.

"Hey, Sakura," At this, Sakura turned around and followed Kagome's gaze to the painting.

"Yes?"

"Who is that?" Kagome asked, pointing at that painting. It was of a beautiful woman with long, silvery hair, golden eyes, and a crescent moon on her forehead. She was basically an even more feminine version of Sesshomaru.

"That is Sesshomaru-sama's mother." She replied simply. Kagome looked over at Sakura and found that she was staring dully at the painting, as if there weren't anything more boring than that.

"Isn't she pretty?" Kagome asked, marveling at the woman's beauty.

Sakura once again stared blankly at the painting, then glanced to another portion of the wall.

"I suppose so. But she had much less kindness than beauty," Sakura said coldly. After scrutinizing the painting again, she noticed the cold gaze in Sesshomaru's mother's eyes-the same cold gaze that Sesshomaru had. 'So it isn't just him,' Kagome thought.

"Kagome-san, we should go or we will be late for dinner." Sakura briskly set off again at a more quicker pace, and Kagome glanced one more time at the portrait of Sesshomaru's beautiful mother.

They reached the dining room sooner than Kagome expected, but she would've felt better if they hadn't. 'What should I say? I have no experience in formal dinners..' Kagome thought nervously, toying with the sleeves of her kimono.

"Kagome," Sakura said, and turned around to face her. "Don't be so nervous. Lord Sesshomaru will not expect more than necessary from you." She said.

'More than necessary? What exactly is necessary?'

Sakura opened the doors to the big dining room and Kagome saw Rin smiling at her, already seated.

"Kagome." Sesshomaru acknowledged, slightly inclining his head.

"L-Lord Sesshomaru," Kagome stuttered. Sesshomaru looked at one of the seats, the one that was directly in front of Rin and gestured for her to sit there. Kagome walked over as Sesshomaru watched her. 'She's nervous.' He mentally noted.

"Kagome! Why are you shaking..?" Rin asked. Kagome mentally slapped herself.

'I guess he's noticed too, then..' Kagome thought, then finally sat down. She watched as multiple servants brought in piles of plates filled with many different foods. Kagome smiled as Rin whispered a prayer then happily grabbed her chopsticks and started to eat. Kagome glanced over to Sesshomaru and saw that he, too, had picked up his chopsticks but was staring at her. 'Why did she smile?'

Kagome quickly turned to face the table and picked up her chopsticks.

The dinner was delicious. As the servants took away the plates, Kagome waited for Sakura to come into the room again, signifying that the dinner was truly over. But she didn't. Instead, Sesshomaru said, "Rin, you may leave now. But Kagome and I are to discuss a.. Plan."

Rin jumped off of her seat and waved goodbye to Kagome. "Bye, Sesshomaru-sama," she said, then left the room.

Sesshomaru now had his full attention on Kagome, which made her nervous. It wasn't everyday that she was stared at by a full fledged dog demon.

"Now," he started, "I would like to discuss what we are to do to rid Inuyasha of the shikon shards." Kagome nodded slowly, trying not to pry her eyes from his gaze.

Sesshomaru smirked inwardly. Was this girl really that scared of him even as an ally?

"We should take half of the shards from Inuyasha and the other half from Naraku. But we must do this quickly-if one or the other has all in his posession, he will be unstoppable."

Kagome pondered this for a moment.

"Will we have to.. Kill Inuyasha?" She asked, nervously wringing the hem of her skirt under the table.

Sesshomaru smirked. "Why not? Do you still love him even after he betrayed you for the clay miko?"

Kagome shuddered. Those memories were coming back to her now and she didn't want to start crying in front of Sesshomaru-it would just make him think she was even weaker.

Sesshomaru watched as Kagome trembled quietly in her seat.

'She still loves him.'


	6. am I still your enemy?

In response to everyone's comments...

I am planning to reveal what happened to Inuyasha/where he is quite soon, I'm just waiting for the right time

and as Sesshomaru said in one of the previous chapters, he said that Inuyasha WOULD join with Naraku, then when they both get all of the jewel shards he's going to try to betray Naraku and steal the shards for himself. And you'll also find out if Inuyasha is on a spell by Kikyo LATER on.

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Kagome sat there, trembling. 'I'm so weak..'

"Kagome," Sesshomaru said. "You may go."

Sesshomaru watched as Kagome, still trembling, walked down the hallway. He hated seeing women like this. He wouldn't admit that to anyone though, but he still wondered why Inuyasha chose the dead miko over her. 'They both look the same, but the dead miko has more power, perhaps?' He thought, but mentally shook his head. 'A living miko is better than a dead one.'

Inuyasha cradled Kikyo in his arms-was she truly gone this time? He gently shook her. 'Damn Sesshomaru! I'll kill him when I find him.. He just _had_ to come into that battle, didn't he? We could've killed the bitch if it weren't for him!' Inuyasha thought angrily. 'But why did he want her?'

'No matter, I'll find her.'

"Kikyo.. I'll kill that Kagome wench for you.. In your name.." He rested Kikyo's corpse (A/N: even though Kikyo always WAS a corpse) on the cave floor. He swiftly ran out of the cave. 'Maybe I can find some souls for her,' he thought.

"If that doesn't work.. Kagome's soul will have to do." Inuyasha felt a smirk creeping to his face.

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Kagome walked up to her room with Sakura. She felt tired, worn out from all of the crying. Sakura patted her back, "It's ok Kagome, everything will be better soon.." But did Kagome believe it? 'No,' she thought, 'Even Sakura knows in her heart that that's not true. Everything will just get worse. Inuyasha will come and Sesshomaru will be forced to kill him or else Inuyasha will kill me..' Kagome inhaled, shuddering at the sudden coldness she felt. She climbed into the bed, not bothering to take her clothes off. 'Maybe tomorow will be better..' She thought.

She was in Inuyasha's arms again.

"Inuyasha..." She breathed, but pulled away from him. "I know you don't really love me," she said, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. Inuyasha looked at her and walked closer to her.

"Kagome.. You're not making any sense.. Who was the person who rescued you every time you were in trouble?" He asked, cupping her chin in one hand to make her look at him.

"You, but-" "Then no more questions asked." Inuyasha brought Kagome into an embrace. 'I'm so happy everything's okay.. Maybe it was just a dream...' But as she hugged him back she felt a searing pain in her stomach. She saw Inuyasha push her away and saw that there was a knife lodged in her chest, and Inuyasha smiling. She screamed.

The first thing that Kagome saw with a blurry vision was golden eyes and white hair. She screamed again but felt a hand muffle it.

"Kagome."

"Stay away from me! Let me go!" She screamed, squirming to get away.

"_Kagome_," The voice said, more louder, more forceful. She heard that it wasn't Inuyasha's voice and relaxed, but a part of her tensed when it knew that the voice belonged to Sesshomaru.

"Are you going to scream again?" He asked. As Kagome's vision focused, she saw that Sesshomaru looked a little pissed off as he stared down at her. Kagome shook her head and felt the weight of his hand disappear from her mouth.

"You were screaming in your sleep," he said. "I came to see why but it seems you were having a dream about my hanyou brother."

"I'm really sorr-" "Why?"

Kagome looked up at Sesshomaru. Her head tilted, telling him that she didn't understand.

"Why are you still in love with my foolish brother?"

Kagome's thoughts paused a moment as she stared into Sesshomaru's eyes.

'Why _did_ she still love him?' She wondered.

"I.. Don't know.. I'm sorry." Kagome felt extremely stupid saying those words-not knowing why she still loved someone who tried to kill her? That truly was stupidity, she thought.

Sesshomaru stared into her eyes a moment more, then turned away from the bedside and walked over to the door.

"Rin will be waiting for you downstairs. I expect you to be there in ten minutes."

Kagome nodded. With that, Sesshomaru exited the room.

'I don't know what she ever saw in my hanyou brother.'

Kagome sighed and opened the closet door. She gasped as she found more new, beautiful kimonos. 'I really love these.. But I wish he wouldn't let me wear these because I'm afraid I'll ruin them..' She thought and picked out one of the plainer ones-(if it COULD be considered plain). It was a mostly black kimono with white flowers embroidered onto the edges.

As Kagome entered the room that Rin and felt something attatch itself to her leg.

"Kagomeeeee!" Rin squealed. Kagome smiled and knelt down so she could hug Rin-and smiled.

Sesshomaru watched this, sitting on a chair. 'Kagome is like a mother to her,' he noted.

Rin looked up at Kagome with watery eyes. "Rin missed you.."

'Aww, she's so cute!' Kagome thought. She was happy to be around a girl like Rin.

"I missed you too, Rin, but it's only been a day!'

"It seems longer.. Kagome-chan, can we go to pick flowers?" Kagome gladly nodded. 'It'll do me good to get out of this dark castle, anyway..' She thought.

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Time passed quickly as Kagome and Rin picked flowers in Sesshomaru's main garden-to say the least, all of his gardens were HUGE. Kagome knew that Sesshomaru was a very powerful lord to have such a big castle and so many servants, but she never suspected that he would have gardens-she just never thought about Sesshomaru being a calm person but now that she thought about it it seemed to suit him.

Kagome was lost in her thoughts and didn't notice Rin approach her.

"Kagome.. I want to give this to you," Rin said, and held up a flower. Kagome gladly accepted it with appreciation.

"Thanks, Rin!" Kagome took it from Rin's small hand and sniffed it and found that it smelled very pleasant. She recognized it as a cherry blossom.

"I chose this for you because you remind me of this flower.. You're nice and delicate," she said.

"Ah." Kagome seemed to ponder those words for a moment. 'And fragile.' She added at the end of that sentence but mentally hit herself. She was becoming more pessimistic as the days passed. She suddenly thought of her family. 'Do they miss me?' she thought. 'What will become of my life? Will I live the rest of my days in the fuedal era? It's not like I have a good education, anyway.. I've skipped so many of my school days because of Inuyasha.. I sacrificed.. So much for him..' She thought bitterly. She suddenly felt very angry towards him-she had lost so much because of him, and she didn't get anything in return. Only betrayal and sorrow.

Kagome felt a tear run down her cheek and it landed on the flower, making the cherry blossom's flowers flatten against it.

"Kagome.. Why are you crying? Why are you so sad all the time?" Rin asked, sitting next to her. 'Why am I crying again? I'm so weak..'

Kagome tried to stop crying but realized that she couldn't-the tears just kept spilling endlessly.

"Rin," Kagome didn't look up as she heard a deep voice in front of her. "Give Kagome some time alone," the voice said and even though Kagome knew it belonged to Sesshomaru she did nothing to acknowledge him. 'I feel so ashamed..' she thought sadly and pulled herself into a tight embrace with her arms around her legs that were pulled up to her chest. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rin nod and run towards the castle.

"Kagome," Sesshomaru sounded louder, more closer. Her grip on her legs tightened.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She slowly rose her head from her arms and looked up, into Sesshomaru's golden eyes.

"Why are you crying?"

Sesshomaru's voice didn't sound that concerned, and his question didn't seem very questioning even. It sounded more like a statement, but she answered anyway.

"I miss my family. I miss my life. I miss-"

"Inuyasha." He finished the sentence for her as if reading her thoughts. 'Was I going to say that?' She thought, but still stared into Sesshomaru's cold gaze.

She suddenly realized that he was kneeling in front of her.

"Do you wish to go back to him, Kagome? Go back to the way your life was before with your friends?"

Kagome thought about that. She then realized that she was unsure of her answer and turned away until she felt a hand gently tug her chin to face Sesshomaru.

"My friends.. Are dead. And if I went back to Inuyasha, he would just betray me again. Why would I want that? And even if I did want it, I wouldn't be able to since the past is the past."

Kagome's chest ached. She remembered the pain she went through when Sango, Miroku, and Shippo were murdered. Murdered by Inuyasha and Kikyo. She remembered how she sank to her knees in the blood and sobbed as her friends' lifeless eyes stared vacantly at her. But what she remembered the most was the blood and gore.

Everything was covered in blood. And Inuyasha just laughed as he saw her friends' dead bodies on the floor, tangled and twisted into abnormal shapes.

It was hard to believe that they were once his friends.

Sesshomaru was staring at Kagome as she stared blankly back at him, her gaze almost as blank as his was. She seemed to be remembering something.

"But.."

Kagome snapped back to reality and focused on Sesshomaru's face once more, reluctantly.

"Isn't a moment of what used to be worth it?" He asked. He was curious to hear her reply-she truly was interesting, he thought. He didn't care how cold he may have seemed to her as he asked her all of these questions, forcing her to relive her terror.

He saw her smile, but at the same time tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Yes," she said. "Yes, it is worth it. I want to go back to the way things were-to talk and laugh with my friends again, to go home and see that Inuyasha followed me down the well to pick me up early. To look for jewel shards," her voice cracked. "To fight Naraku and.. to fight you.." She whispered the last three syllables, then abruptly turned her head away and held herself once more.

'She truly is a broken creature,' he thought.

There was a long silence as Kagome's quiet sobs were muffled by her hands.

"Have you lost the will to live?" He asked her. This was the last question he wanted her to reply to.

She turned to him and he saw that her cheeks were now reddened and she looked almost as though she were blushing.

"No," she said, never breaking her gaze from his. "I have Rin to care for."

"And your family?"

Kagome stared at the ground. "Do you think.. That Inuyasha killed them?"

'Perhaps,' Sesshomaru thought. He knew how vengeful Inuyasha could be, and since Kikyo was such a precious 'person' to him, he knew that Inuyasha was beyond angry. He looked over to Kagome's tear stained face. 'She's worried enough.'

"No," he lied. "Inuyasha isn't that type of avenger."

Kagome let out a sigh of relief. She smiled weakly, still staring at the ground.

"It's funny.. How I once thought that he actually cared for me. He met my family.. He saved my friends and I so many times, and he even.. Saved me from you."

Sesshomaru stared intently at Kagome, who was still smiling morbidly.

"Not everyone is what they appear to be." He said, and Kagome looked up at him. He kneeled by Kagome but she flinched as he outstretched his arm to stroke her cheek.

"Why are you afraid of me?" He asked. "Have I hurt you at all during the time of your stay? If it weren't for me," he said softly, "You would be dead."

'He's right,' Kagome told herself. 'Stop being afraid of him.' She looked down at the ground again, intimidated to look him straight in the eyes.

"It's just strange, to think that we were once enemies.." Kagome said, but felt her chin gently turn towards Sesshomaru. She was forced to peer into his eyes.

"Am I still your enemy?" Sesshomaru asked, near a whisper. His hand traveled from her chin to cup her cheek as he stroked it gently, almost lovingly. He was surprised that her cheek was so soft, so.. Perfect.

'Why am I doing this?' He asked himself, but didn't really listen to himself as he stopped stroking her cheek but still cupped it with his hand. With a soft, almost inaudible sigh, he brought his hand back down to his waist and stood up. He walked to the castle as if nothing had happened.

Kagome sat there, wide eyed as she tried to figure out what just happened. 'Why was he acting like that? He's never acted like that before..' She thought to herself, but her thoughts were interrupted as Rin bounded towards her from the castle.

"Is Kagome chan okay?" Rin asked, her eyes wide and concerned.

Kagome forced herself to smile at Rin. "Yeah, I'm okay.. What do you want to do now?"

Kagome watched as Rin pondered that question to herself but then exclaimed, "Can we go inside? It's hot outside.."

Kagome smiled and nodded as she felt Rin's hand slip into hers, and they walked to the castle, oblivious that Sesshomaru was watching them the whole time.


End file.
